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Luxury Magazine
Fall 2003 Vol.3, No.2
In Hot Purse-uit!
One of a handful of private detectives around the country specializing in pursuing counterfeit purse-makers, Mike Kessler has a keen eye for designer-label merchandise and the skills of a seasoned investigator. You could say he’s equal parts Kate Spade and Sam Spade.
"Counterfeit products always look like the real deal," he said in a recent interview. "The average consumer would never notice. When we look at it knowing what we’re looking for, we see it immediately."
And Mike Kessler knows just what to look for.
The fake purse trade in New York City is only the most visible aspect of an increasingly international counterfeit market. Experts with the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, an industry group based in Washington, D.C., say that knockoffs cost big business $350 billion a year in lost sales. And it’s not just purses.
"I have seen almost everything knocked off," said coalition president Tim Trainer. "We’re talking about something as simple as T-shirts and bags to whole motorbikes and pharmaceuticals. It runs the whole gamut … auto parts, light bulbs, toner cartridges for copy machines. There is no limit to what counterfeiters will try to rip off."
Perhaps it’s the bottle cap of a prescription drug that is two-and-a-half millimeters wide when it should be four. Or the way the plastic is wrapped around a bar of soap. Or where the designer label goes on an expensive purse.
Still, Trainer said police and prosecutors are slow to go after counterfeiters. He feels that since Sept. 11, U.S. Customs agents and border guards are more concerned with watching out for terrorists than looking for counterfeit goods.
That leaves many manufacturers to depend on private detectives like Kessler to fill the void. Anna Tsui, manager of corporate affairs for Kate Spade, said most of their investigations begin with private detectives and only involve law enforcement after the preliminary work has been done.
Even an arrest isn’t a guarantee, however, that a counterfeiter will face charges. "Prosecutors dealing with major criminal investigations will often decline to press charges on a case simply because counterfeiting is not as high a priority as armed robbery or rape," Kessler said. In those cases, he works with corporate lawyers to file trademark-infringement cases in civil court. Either way, the aim is to put the counterfeiters out of business.
Kessler’s hometown of New York is home to Canal Street, a bustling downtown street where dozens of vendors hawk counterfeit versions of purses and handbags by such designers as Kate Spade, Fendi and Prada from jerry-rigged sidewalk booths and tiny stores. Though the illegal merchandise on Canal Street bothers him, Kessler said he would never begin an investigation there.
"That’s like starting on a corner looking for drugs and then taking on the drug dealer," he said. "Number one, you know darn well somebody is going to pop up tomorrow in the same location, and number two, you’re too far down the chain. Our job is to go to the head of the company."
With the unassuming name of Michael G. Kessler & Associates, the Manhattan office of the 50-year old detective coordinates efforts among its staff nationwide. In addition to 35 investigators working out of Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles and Chicago, the company hires local subcontractors for work abroad in places such as Singapore and Jakarta.
Investigators with Kessler’s agency start by posing as buyers in street markets that specialize in counterfeit goods, looking for fakes of their client’s products. Slowly, they work their way up the ladder, compiling a detailed database on how the counterfeit operation works. When they have enough information, they contact the appropriate law enforcement agency, whether it’s the Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Customs, state agencies or the local police.
In some cases, if he finds a counterfeiter is also producing fakes from another company, Kessler said he will contact that company to see if they are interested in participating in the arrest.
Throughout the case, Kessler said he relies on the skills developed during his two decades as chief of investigations for the New York State Department of Tax and Finance. There, he specialized in diverted goods cases, where criminals steal and resell cigarettes, gasoline and liquor to avoid paying taxes. He left his job 10 years ago to work as a private detective and eventually began investigating counterfeit operations as well.
"I enjoy my job tremendously," he said. "I think I can go home at night and put my head down on my pillow feeling I’ve done something right for some people. I’m making a difference in society."
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